Portable apparatus for treating flax straw



April 13, 1943- J. A. JOHNSON PORTABLE APPARATUS FOR TREATING FLAX STRAW Filed Oct. 28, 1940 4 Sheets-Sheet l /NVENTO, JOHN A. fOHNJON $4 WW ATT0NE rs A1115113, J; A. JOHNSON PORTABLE APPARATUS FOR T REATING FLAX S I'RAW Filed Oct. 28, 1940' -4 Sheets-Sheet 2 AVl/ENTOE JQHNAJ'OHNJ J W '4,

' ATTog E- J April 13, 1943. J, A. JOHNSON 2,316,590

. PORTABLE APPARATUS FOR TREATING FLAX STRAW Filed Oct. 28, 1940 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 F ,NH

' Ai -T NE Y 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 ml l April 13, 1943. J. A. JOHNSON PORTABLE APPARATUS FOR TREATING FLAX STRAW Filed Oct. 28. 1940 Hum- 1 1 Jl l 11.

,l l L L L AVVENTOE JbHN/LfoH/vso/v g3 QWQ'Q PM mill is usually necessary. Because of the waste Patented Apr. 13, 1943 PORTABLE APPARATUS FOR TREATING FLAX STRAW f John A. Johnson, Winona, Minn.

' Application October 28, 1940, Serial No. 363,116

9 Claims.

This invention relates to an improved apparatus for converting fiax straw into a marketable product such as tow, fibers, etc., and more particularly to such an apparatus which may be operated directly in the field to recover a major portion of the fibrous materials.

It is well known that fiax straw as obtained from the threshing of flax, has a valuable constituent, namely, its fiber. Numerous attempts have heretofore been made to utilize these fibers, but due to the expense of transportation and' separation, it has not been economically attractive. In the past, the procedure has been to bale the flax strawin the field, after the threshing operation, whereby all of the foreign matter contained in the straw, such as foreign grain straws, weeds, weed seeds, dirt, dust, etc., is included in the bale. The baled straw is then shipped to a plant where the bales are broken and fed through a machine commonly known as a break* comprising a series of corrugated'rolls of different designs. A typical installation usually comprises three break machines connected in series and each machine comprising forty-eight break rolls, or one hundred and forty-four rolls in the completed installation. The straw, in passing through these corrugated break rolls, is subjected to a breaking and scutching action which decorticates and removes from the fiax straw fibers, the woody portions of the straw, commonly known as shives. Other foreign grain and weed straws may pass along with the fibrous flak straw, as substantially no separation occurs in this operation. Flax straw, as it is produced in the field, may contain shives and foreign materials to the extent of 75 to 80 percent of the gross weight of the harvested fiax straw. The forei n material normally contained in the harvested flax straw is of no value, and therefore when it is transported from the field intermixed with the fibrous flax straw, as is now customary, the cost of' transporting the fiax straw to the mill for treatment obviously is materially increased. Another objection to the transportation of flaxstraw to the mill in its normal threshed condition is that when the high percentage of shives and other waste materials are removed from the fiax straw fibers" at the mill,

-the disposition of the waste presents another having little or no value, the cost of transporting it from the mill again adds to the cost of manufacturing the fibrous material.

From the foregoing, it will thus be seen that.

shives and other waste materials contained in' the threshed fiax straw to be treated, to and from the processing mill. It is therefore highly desirable that some means be provided whereby the major portion of the waste materials contained in threshed straw to be treated, such as shives, foreign grain straws, weeds, and weed seeds, may be removed from the relatively large, longe straw fibers directly in the field where the flax is harvested, whereby the cost of transporting such waste to and from the mill may be substantially entirely eliminated, with a corresponding reduction in the cost of converting the threshed straw into a marketable product, such as tow.

After considerable experimental work with variousapparatus, in an attempt to devise some means for thus separating the waste from the straw fibers directly in the field, I finally succeeded in developing the portable apparatus herein disclosed. By the use of this portable apparatus, the major portions of the shive and other waste material contained in the fiax straw, including foreign grain straws, weeds, etc., may be removed from the fibrous fiax straw directly in th -field, which heretofore has been considered impossible because of. the inherent construction of conventional equipment. The novel apparatus herein disclosed has been found highly efiicient and practical in actual operation in the field. It is very compact and relatively light in weight, whereby it may be readily transported from place to place, or from one field to another by means of an ordinary farm tractor or other suitable power unit. By thus removing the waste from the fiax straw directly in the field, the waste may be left in the field, where it may be readily disposed of by burning, or in some other manner. Only the cleaned straw fibers, which usually i a smallv percentage of the bulk of the untreated fiax straw in the-field, need then betransported from the field to the mill.

An important object of the present invention,- therefore, is to provide a portable apparatus for cleaning fiax straw fibers, whereby the major portions of the usual shive and waste contained in the threshed'fiax straw may be removed therefrom directly in the field, whereby the expensive operation of transporting such waste to and from the mill, may be substantially entirely eliminated.

Another important object of the invention is to provide an apparatus of the clas described which has the function of removing foreign straws from the flax straw in addition to the shive.

Another object is to provide an apparatus of the class described comprising a cleaning unit adapted to impart a scutching action to the flax straw to effect a separation of a large percentage of the usual shive and other foreign'matter from the threshed flax straw, whereby the resultant straw is rendered well suited for the manufacture of higher quality products, such as tissue paper, etc. a

A further object is to provide an apparatus for cleaning fiax straw directly in the field, which is capable of removing the major portion of the shive and other foreign matter from the harvested flax straw, regardless of the condition of the fiax straw, after which the cleaned flax straw may be baled in the field without the usual high percentage of waste, thereby rendering the flax transported to the mill of higher quality.

A further object is to provide a portable apparatus of the class described comprising a novel cleaning unit including a housing having a toothed cylinder or rotor mounted therein, and the upper portion of the housing being formed with an oifsetrecess extending the length of the cylinder, and a plurality of spaced fins or vanes being secured to the upper wall of the housing and traversing said recess in such a manner that the material thrown into the recess by the centrifugai action of the cylinder is advanced toward a discharge opening provided at one end of the housing, said fins also cooperating to provide a plurality of closely spaced recesses in the upper portion of the housing, into which the straw is constantly being thrown from the cylinder teeth by centrifugal force. resulting in the straw constantly being turned over, as it is advanced lengthwise through the apparatusyand the bottom of the housing being composed of Iongitudinally extending closely spaced bars which cooperate with the cylinder to impart a scutching action to the straw, whereby the major portion of the shive is removed from the fibers and drops between said bars onto a suitable receiving means.

Other objects of the invention reside in the novel constructionof the cleaning unit, which comprises a housing having a semi-cylindrical bottom formed with a plurality of longitudinally extending spaced-apart bars which cooperate to provide an open grid, said bars being V-shaped in cross-section and having their sloping sides or webs directed outwardly, whereby they cooperate to provide a plurality of longitudinally extending ridges or corrugations, and a toothed cylinder being mounted in the housing and cooperating with said corrugations to decorticate or break up the shive part of the straw, whereby the shive may more readily be removed from the fiax straw fibers, and means being provided in the upper portion of the housing whereby the straw may be thrown out of contact with the cylinder teeth and turned over, thereby to cause all of the straw to be subjected to the scutching action imparted thereto as it is passedover the corrugated bottom surface of the housing by the rotary movement of the cylinder, whereby the major portion of the shive is removed from the flax straw fibers, as well as substantially all other foreign matter which may be contained therein; and, in the provision of a portable apparatus for cleaning flax straw, which is extremely simple and inexpensive in construction, and is of light weight, whereby it may readily and conveniently be transported from one place to another in the field by a suitable power unit.

A further object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus which is capable of producing a flax fiberwhich is substantially free from foreign straws. This is made possible as a result of the novel construction of the cleaning unit of the machine, wherein the flax straw and other material is subjected to a scutching action which is of such a nature as to decorticate and break up most of the shives, foreign straws and weeds contained in the threshed fiax straw, but which does not break or damage the relatively long flax straw fibers, because of the inherent strength and toughness thereof, and whereby the fibers may readily be separated from such undesirable foreign matter, to produce a high quality, marketable fibrous stock or tow which may be used in the manufacture of high grade paper, textiles, etc.

Other objects of the'invention will appear from the following description and accompanying drawings and will be pointed out in the annexed claims. 4 r

In the accompanying drawings there has been disclosed a structure designed to carry out the various objects of the invention, but it is to be understood that the invention is not confined to the exact features shown as various changes may be made within the scope of the claims which follow.

In the drawings:

Figure l is a longitudinal sectional view showing the invention embodied in a portable machine for treating fiax straw;

Figure 2 is a side elevation of the machine shown in Figure 1;

Figure 3 is an enlarged detail sectional view on the line 3-3 of Figure 5, showing the general construction of the cleaning unit of the machine;

Figure 4 is a detail view on the line 4-4 of Figure 5, showing thedischarge opening of the cleaning unit;

Figure 5 is a top view of the cleaning unit, partially broken away, to show the angular rrangement of the vanes in the upper porton thereof 1 Figure 6 is a front view of the cleaning unit;

and

Figure 7 is a sectional plan view substantially on the line 1-4 of Figure 4.

The portable fiax straw treating and cleaning machine herein disclosed, is shown comprising a main supporting frame I mounted on suitable carrying wheels 3 and l. The machine, when transported from one place to another, is propelled in the direction indicated by the arrow 5 in Figure 2, and the right hand end of the machine, as shown in this figure, will therefore be referred to as the front end of the machine.

The fiax straw to be treated is delivered onto the straw racks 8 at the rear end of the machine,

' whereby it is fed forwardly to a main feed drum or pin cylinder, generally designated by the numeral I. v'Jlhe toothed periphery of the feed drum 1 picks up the straw and conveys it to a stripping =cylinder l. A retarding doifer 8 coacts with the feed drum I to control the delivery of straw to the stripping cylinder 8, it being noted that, at point of contact between the two, the retarding doffer I rotates in a direction opposite to that of the feed drum 1, whereby portions of the straw may be thrown back onto the straw racks, as indicated by the arrows in Figure, 1. q t

A suitable housing, generallydeslgna ted by the numeral H is provided over the doffer 9, feed drum 1, and stripping cylinder 8, to confine the straw to the action of these parts.

cylinder-8 delivers the straw onto an inclined bot- The stripping tom plate I2 which directs the straw and other material to the first set of corrugated break rolls,

generally indicated by the numeral l3. v From the break rolls l3, the material is delivered to a level-.

ing doifer or cylinder [4, which again loosens up the straw and uniformly distributes it to a second set of break rolls i5. A suitablehousing lieneloses the upper portion of theleveling doifer-or cylinder H. A suitablegrid "is provided beneath the cylinder 14, through which a portion of. he waste material entrained with the flax straw may pass onto a suitable conveyer belt l3, shown extending substantially the length of the machine, from a point below the straw racks 6 to a which conveys. such material forwardly and ,dis-

charges it into a screw conveyer, generally designatedby the, numeral l9.

An important feature of the present invention resides in the novel means providedat the front end of the machine for subjecting the flex straw.

to a scutching and cleaning action, whereby the major portion of theshives, foreign'grain straws,

weeds, and weed seeds, are removed from' the flex straw fibers, after which the flax fibers are discharged from the machine onto a suitable receiving. means, substantially free froni shives', foreign grain straws, and other waste, which may have been contained in the threshed flax straw, as received from the field.

The novelmeans provided for thus cleaning the 'yiiax straw, is best shown in Figures 1 and 3 to 7, inclusive, and is in the form of a unitary structure, which willhereinafte'r be referred to as the -=cleaning unit, and is generally designated by the humeral 2| .in the drawings. The cleaningunit 2| is shown comprising a housing including an upper section or hood 22 and a lower portion 23,

which is substantially ,"semi-cylindrical in form.

The housing 2| of the cleaning unit is shown relatively longer in a direction crosswise of the ma-v chine than the actual width of the machine frame 2, and has one end extending beyond one side of the f'.;'ne, as clearly illustrated in Figures 5, 6, and '7, for reasons subsequently to be described.

The lower semi-cylindrical bottom wall 23 of the housing is shown formed of longitudinally ex-.

tending bars 24 which preferably are of angle iron cross section, as best shown in Figures.3 and 4.

The bars 24, are spaced apart to provide a plu-.

spaced longitudinally extending ridges are formed, which provide in effect, a corrugated bottom wall surface over which the material delivered into the housing 2 i is conveyed by a cylinder,

I generally indicated by. the numeral 26, mounted within the housing 2|. When the cylinder is rotated, the whirling action of the cylinder teeth and material engagedthereby creates a circulation of air within the housing. A portion of .this air may pass from the housing through the grid openings 25, while a portion thereof is deflected inwardly as a result. of its engagement with the inclined .faces ill of the inwardly facing ,V-shaped faces of the grid bars 241 The faces 10 of the grid bars 24 thushave a tendency to retard to some extent, airflow through the grid openings 25, whereby only the shives, decorticated foreign grain straws, weeds. and weed seeds, which are relatively smaller and more dense than the flax straw fibers, pass through the grid openings 25. Itwill thus be noted that the inwardly directed V -shaped faces of'the grid bars 24 are important to effect maximum separation of the foreign matter from the flax straw fibers. necessarily be of angle'lron cross-section, as obviously they may be'square or triangular in crosssection, provided they are arranged with their V- shaped faces directed inwardly. Q

The cylinder '26 is shown comprising a shaft 21 having a plurality of suitable disk-like elements 28 mounted thereon in spaced relation lengthwise cf the shaft. A plurality of longitudinally extending bars 29, preferably of channel cross-section, are suitably. secured to the peripheries of the disk likemembers 28, and support a plurality of radial teeth 3| which are adapted to engage the straw and convey it over the grid-like bottom of the housing, as will readily be understood by reference to Figure 1. suitable bearings 32 and 33 shown secured to the supportingjframe 34 of the housing of the cleanlngunit.

A'fiber discharge opening 35 is provided at the overhanging end of the housing 2 I, as best shown .in' Figures 6 and 7, through which the cleaned straw fibers are discharged from the cleaning unit onto a suitable receiving means, such as a conveyer 36. The conveyer 36 may be of any wen known construction applicable for the purpose, and is preferably detachablyfsupported on the machineir'ame by such means as a pivot pin 30 and hook elements 40, shown in Figure 4. The conveyer 36 is adapted-to convey the cleaned flax strawflbers to a suitable receiving means, not shown in the drawings. A' deflector plate .31 is preferably provided over' the discharge'opening 35 to direct the fibers onto the conveyer 36, as will readily be understood by reference to Figure 4. I r

Another feature of the invention resides in the novel construction of the upper section or hood 22 of the housing. As best shown in Figures 3 and 4, the upperv wall portionof thehood 22 is gradually "outwardly, curved or offset from the cylinder 26 to provide, in effect, a longitudinally extending recess or chamber 38, having its greatest depth oifset from the vertical plane d of the cylinder 26 in the direction of material travel in the hood 22. the hood is gradually curved outwardly-from point a to the point of maximum distance from the axis of the cylinder- 26, indicated at b in Figure 3.

From point 21, said wall is curved inwardly and substantially meets the upper rear edge of the lower cylindrical wall of the housing at point 0,

The bars 24, however, neednot The-shaft?! is supported in,

'More specfically, the upper wall of on a line substantially tangent thereto. Point b is located at an angle of approximately 25 from it is turned over with respect to the cylinder.

The straw or material thus thrown into the recess 38 is partially turned over because of the uniqueshape of the hood wall, and then drops by gravity into engagement with the cylinder teeth, whereby it is again passed over the corrugated bottom wall of the housing for further scutching action. It will thus be seen that the material is repeatedly being thrown clear of the cylinder teeth and picked up thereby, whereby all of the material delivered into the cleaning unit is subjected to the'scutching action of the cylinder teeth and corrugated bottom wall of the housing.

A deflector plate 39 is preferably provided over the receiving opening 4i of the housing 2 I, to direct the straw thrown into the recess 38 inwardly into the pathof the revolving cylinder teeth 3|.

Another important feature of the invention resides in the provision of means in the upper portion of the hood 22 for advancing the material in a longitudinal direction within the housing 2|, as the material is constantly being operated upon by the cylinder teeth 3i. Such means is shown comprising a plurality of inclined vanes 42, secured to the upper, irregularly curved wall portion of the hood 22 in spaced parallel relation, as best shownin Figure 5. The vanes are so inclined with respect to the axis or the cylinder 26, that when engaged by the material thrown upwardly into the recess 38, they will cause the material to gradually advance in a direction towards the discharge opening 35 of the housing, as will best be understood by reference to Figure 5. The vanes thus cooperate to continually advance the material in a longitudinal direction in the housing until it eventually reaches the discharge opening 35 and is discharged from the housing onto the conveyer 2|, by the centrifugal force of the rapidly rotating cylinder teeth 3|.

The unique design and shape of the upper portion of the housing or hood 22 is important,as hereinbefore stated, in that it causes the material received in the recess or chamber 38, to be constantly turned over, whereby a new surface of the straw is continually being presented to the corrugated grid-like bottom of the housing. Because of the high peripheral speed of the cylinder teeth 3|, the straw. is held firmly in contact with the grid-like bottom of the housing, as it is conveyed thereover by said teeth, whereby a severe scutching action is obtained which decorticates and removes the major portions of the shives and other foreign matter from the straw fibers, before the fibers are ejected from the housing through the opening 35.

As shown in Figures 2, 5, and 7, one end of a suitable suction trunk 43 is connected to the discharge end of the screw conveyer 49 and has its opposite end connected to a suction Ian, generally designated by the numeral 44. The discharge of the Ian 44 is shown connected to a suitable conduit 45 having an upper horizontal portionfrom which the waste, such as shives, other foreign grain straws, weeds, weed seeds, and chaff, may be directed to a suitable receiving means, not shown. If desired, the waste material may be discharged directly on the ground from the conduit 45.

The novel machine herein disclosed, has been found extremely practical in the treatment of flax straw directly in the field, for the purpose of removing therefrom, the major portions of the waste usually contained in the threshed flax ,straw before treatment. The machine has been particularly designed for operation directly in the field, for the express purpose of removing from the more valuable flax straw fibers, the? major portions of the waste usually contained in the flax straw, thereby eliminating the expensive operation of transporting such waste to a remote point, such as a tow mill, simultaneously with the threshed flax straw, as is now common practice. The various elements of the machine, as shown in Figures 1 and 2, are driven in timed relation by' suitable belt and chain drives, which are more or less common and well known to the trade, and itis therefore thought unnecessary to herein describe them in detail. The same applies to the constructional details of the machine frame.

The outstanding feature of the invention, however, resides in the unique construction of the cleaning unit 2|, per se, which makes it possible to efiect a relatively thorough cleaning of the flax straw fibers directly in the field, which heretofore was considered impossible. By constructing the upper portion of the housing or hood 2?. as bestshown in Figures 3'and 4, and by the provision'of the corrugated bottom wall of the housing, and moreover, because of the portability of the machine, a relatively thorough separation of the waste from the fi'ax straw fibers directly in the field, is made possible, which heretofore has been consldered impossible with conventional apparatus. Because of the longitudinally extending recess provided in the upper portion of the housing or hood 22, theflax straw and other material being so reduced in size by the scutching action of the corrugated bottom of the housing and the cylinder teeth, as to readilypass through the openings between the bars 24, whereby only the cleaned flax straw flbers are discharged from the housing through the opening 35 onto the conveyer 36.

In actual operation, it has been found that the scutching action on the flax straw in the cleaning unit, does not tend to break or tear the flax straw fibers, but only, the shives, foreign grain straws, and weeds, whereby a relatively thorough separation of the more valuable flax straw fibers from such waste, may readily be accomplished with this novel machine directly in the fleld.

I claim as my invention:

1. In a portable apparatus of the class described, a housing comprising a. lower semi-cylindrical bottom wall constructed of a plurality of longitudinally extending spaced parallel bars which cooperate to provide a grid having a corrugated surface, an imperforate hood forming the upper portion of the housing, said housing having feed and discharge openings, a cylinder mounted in the housing and having a plurality of teeth adapted to engage the flax straw delivered to the housing and convey it over the corrugated bottom surface of the housing, whereby a scutching action is imparted to the straw, and the upper wall portion of the hood extending upwardly from the horizontal plane of the cylinder axis in an outwardly sweeping curve away from the cylinder, and in the direction of movement of the upper portion of the cylinder, to a point beyond the vertical plane of the cylinder axis, and thence downwardly in a direction towards the lower cylindrical wall portion of the housing:

in substantially a vertical line tangent to the lower housing wall, whereby a longitudinally extending recess or chamber is formed in the uper portion of the hood into which the straw is peatedly thrown from the cylinder teeth and turned over with respect to the cylinder, whereby all of the straw delivered into the housing is subjected to the scutching action of the corrugations in the bottom wall of the housing.

2. In an apparatus of the class described, a housing comprising a lower semi-cylindrical bottom wall constructed of a plurality of longitudinally extending spaced parallel inverted V- shaped bars which cooperate to provide a grid having a corrugated surface, a hood forming the upper portion of the housing, said housing having a feed opening intermediate its ends and a discharge opening adjacent one end, a cylinder mounted in the housing and having a plurality of teeth adapted to engage the flax straw jdelivered to the housing and convey it over the corrugated bottom surface of the housing, whereby a scutching action is imparted to the straw, and the upper wall portion of the hood extending upwardly from the horizontal plane of the cylinder axis in an outwardly sweeping curve away from the cylinder, and in the direction of of the cylinder axis, and thence downwardly in a direction towards the lower cylindrical wall portion of the housing in substantially a vertical line tangent to the lower housing wall, whereby a longitudinally extending recess or chamber is.

formed in the upper portion of the housing into which the straw is repeatedly thrown from the cylinder teeth and turned over with respect to the cylinder, wherebyall of the straw is subiected to the scutching action of the corrugations in the bottom of the housing, as the straw is repeatedly conveyed thereover, thereby effecting a relatively thorough separation of the bast flbers ofythe straw from the shive and foreign straws andweeds contained in the straw before treatment.

4. In an apparatus of the class described, a

wheeled frame, a housing mounted thereon and *comprising a lower semi-cylindrical bottom wall movement of the upper portion of the cylinder,

to a point beyond the vertical plane of the cylinder axis, and thence downwardly in a direction towards the lower cylindrical wall portion of the housing in substantially a vertical line tangent to the lower housing wall, whereby a longitudi- .;1ally extending recess or chamber is formed in the upper portion of the hood into which the straw is repeatedly thrown from the cylinder fteeth and turned over with respect to the cylintom wall formed with longitudinally extending corrugations having openings therebetween for the passage of shive and foreign straws and weeds contained in the flax straw, means for feeding flax straw into the housing, a discharge opening adjacent one end of the housing, a cyl inder in the housing having a plurality of teeth adapted to engage .and convey the straw over the corrugations in the bottom or the housing in a direction crosswise thereof, whereby a scutching action is imparted to the straw which breaks up and removes the shive from the bast flbers of the straw, and the upper wall portion of the housing extendingtupwardly from the horizontal plane of the cylinder axis in an outwardly sweeping curve away from the cylinder, and in they direction of movement of the upper portion of the cylinder, to a point beyond the vertical plane formed with longitudinally extending corrugations having openings therebetween for the passage of shive and other foreign straws and weeds contained in the flax straw, means for feeding flax straw into the housing, a discharge openingto vengage and convey the straw over the corrugations in the bottom of the housing in a direction crosswise thereof, whereby a scutching action is imparted to the straw to break up and remove the shive from the bast fibers of the straw, and the upper wall portion of the housing extending upwardly from the horizontal plane of the cylinder axis in an outwardly sweeping curve away from the cylinder, and in the direction of movement of the upper} portion of the cylinder, to a point beyond the vertical plane of the cylinder axis, and thence downwardly in a direction towards the lower cylindrical wall portion of the housing in substantially a vertical line tangent to the lower housing wall, whereby a longitudinally extending recess or chamber is formed in the upper portion of the housing into which the straw is repeatedly thrown from the cylinder teeth and turned over with respect to the cylinder, whereby all of the straw is subjected to the sutching action of the corrugations in the bottom of the housing, as the straw is repeatedly conveyed thereover, therebyeil'ecting a relatively thorough separation of the bast fibers of the straw from the shive and foreign straws and weeds contained in the straw before treatment, and a plurality of inclined vanes in said recess or chamber for advancing the material inra longitudinal direction in the housing.

5. In an apparatus of the class described, a housing comprising a lower semi-cylindrical bottom wall formed with longitudinally extending corrugations having openings therebetween for the passage of shive and foreign straws and weeds removed from the flax straw, means for feeding flax straw into the housing, a discharge opening adjacent one end of the housing, a cylinder in the housing having a plurality of teeth adapted to engage and convey the straw over the corrugations in-the bottom of the housing in 'a of the cylinder axis, and thence downwardly in a direction towards the lower cylindrical wall portion of the housing in substantially a vertical disposed vanes in said off-set recess for advancing the straw in an axial direction in the housing towards the discharge opening.

6. In an apparatus of the class described, a

housing comprising a semhcylindrical bottom wall formed with longitudinally extending corrugations, means for feeding flax straw into said housing, a discharge opening adjacent one end of the housing, a suitable cylinder mounted within said housing and provided with a plurality of teeth, and the upper wall portion of the housing extending upwardly from the horizontal plane of the cylinder axis in an outwardly sweeping curve away fr m the cylinder, and in the direction of movement of the upper portion of the cylinder, to a point beyond the vertical plane of the cylinder axis, and thence downwardly in a direction towards the lower cylindrical wall portion of the housing in substantially a vertical line tangent to the lower housing wall, whereby a longitudinally extending recess or chamber is formed in the upper portion of the housing into which the straw is repeatedly thrown from the cylinder teeth and turned over with respect to the cylinder, whereby all of the straw delivered into the housing is subjected to the scutching action of the corrugation in the bottom of the housing, as the straw is repeatedly conveyed thereover by the rotary movement of the cylinder and whereby a relatively thorough separation of the best fibers of the straw from the shive and foreign straws and weeds is effected.

7. A housing comprising a lower semi-cylindrical grid-like bottom wall and an upper curved wall, a cylinder mounted in said housing, and said upper curved wall extending upwardly from the horizontal plane of the cylinder axis in an outwardly sweeping curve away from the cylinder, and in the direction or movement of the upper portion of the cylinder, to a point beyond the vertical plane of the cylinder axis, and thence downwardly in a direction towards the lower cylindrical wall portion of the housing in substantially a vertical line tangent to the lower housing wall, whereby a longitudinally extending recess or chamberis formed in the upper portion the cylinder, and in the direction of movement of the upper portion of the cylinder, to a point beyond the vertical plane of the cylinder axis,'

and thence downwardly in a direction towards the lower cylindrical wall portion of the housing in substantially a vertical line tangent to the lower housing wall, whereby a longitudinally ex tending recess or chamber is formed in the uppeg portion of the housing into which the material delivered into the housing is repeatedly thrown from the cylinder teeth and turned over with respect to the cylinder, and a plurality of inclined vanes in said recess arranged to be engaged by the material thrown into the recess by the cylinder teeth, whereby said vanes gradually advance it in a direction lengthwise of the housing, towards the discharge opening.

9. A housing comprising a lower semi-cylindrical grid-like bottom wall and an upper curved wall, said housing having an intake opening in a wall thereof, a discharge opening adjacent one end of the housing, a cylinder mounted in the housing, and said upper curved wall extending upwardly from the horizontal plane of the cylinder axis in an outwardly sweeping curve away from the cylinder, and in the direction of movement of the upper portion of the cylinder, to a point beyond the vertical plane of the cylinder axis, and thence downwardly in a direction towards the lower cylindrical wall portion of the housing in substantially a vertical line tangent to the lower housing wall, whereby a longitudinallyextending recess or chamber is formed in the upper portion of the housing into which the' material delivered into thehousing is repeatedly thrown from the cylinder teeth and turned over with respect to the cylinder, and a plurality oi, vanes secured to said upper curved wall and disposed transversely thereof at an angle to the axis of the cylinder, and extending substantially from side to side of the housing over the cylinder whereby the material thrown against said vanes by the cylinder teeth will be gradually advanced in a direction lengthwise oi the housing towards the discharge opening.

JOHN A. JOHNSON. 

